elective renters insurance

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Seth.A

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Seth.A
The school where I'm working on my ppl does not require students to carry renters insurance. Students are evidently covered in whatever policy they have already.

I'm getting close to solo and considering if it would be wise to get my own policy before I do. My reasoning is that the school is paying for that insurance to cover their interests, not mine.

I'm curious to know what the general wisdom here is. Is this a wise choice to protect myself or a waste of money better spent flying?

thanks
 
my school required my own renter's policy once I had soloed. that policy covered their deductible. assuming your school's policy is the same then yes, getting your own renter's policy is a good idea.
 
Get more details from a grey hair at your school. The minions probably don’t understand it.

my school covers: dual: liability and hull, solo: hull only. Therefore a solo student needs to get a non owner liability policy. These often can be had for $100-150 per year.
 
Yep, best to not assume that you are covered by the schools policy. It's almost always the case that he person paying for the policy (the school or the aircraft owner), purchases coverage to protect THEM.
Back when I was involved in the operation of a flying club, we worked hard to get policies that wouldn't subrogate against our members. It became more and more difficult to get that or even "breach of warranty" coverage which protected us if the renter chose to violate the club rules or FARs while flying the plane.
 
Seth.A said:
The school where I'm working on my ppl does not require students to carry renters insurance. Students are evidently covered in whatever policy they have already.

I'm getting close to solo and considering if it would be wise to get my own policy before I do. My reasoning is that the school is paying for that insurance to cover their interests, not mine.

I'm curious to know what the general wisdom here is. Is this a wise choice to protect myself or a waste of money better spent flying?

thanks
Click to expand...

I think you might find that you are not covered in their policy. What is covered is the ‘airplane’ when ‘you’ fly it.
 
Keep in mind that unless otherwise specified in the policy, most renters insurance only cause the pilots (renters) screwups. Run out of fuel or oil, forget the gear, screw the landing and runoff the runway and take out a few lights. Something that you as a renter would have control over.

Most places want to see a renters policy for at least the amount of the deductible. Need to find out if their policy limits subrogation to the renter.
Some schools have started either including "insurance" in the hourly rental, or a one time fee per year to the renter to be covered under the schools policy.

Need to ask to look at schools policy to see what is covered, especially in regards to subrogation.
Remember, the schools policy covers the school for hull, liability and sometimes loss of income for the aircraft not being available for rent while being repaired. The schools policy most likely would not cover any renters liability for damage they may do to another airplane, infrastructure or personal bodily injury.

"Subrogation is a term describing a right held by most insurance carriers to legally pursue a third party that caused an insurance loss to the insured. This is done in order to recover the amount of the claim paid by the insurance carrier to the insured for the loss."
 
So it sounds like what I was expecting. They probably don't care if I have insurance because they are covered if I ball up the plane, even if I'm left wide open.

I'll start shopping. If anyone has suggestions on where to purchase such a policy I would be happy to hear it.
 
Every state needs an insurance disclosure law for rental aircraft.


Universal Citation: WI Stat § 114.40 (2019)
114.40 Disclosure of insurance coverage for renter pilots.

(1) Definition. In this section, “rental agent" means a person who, on a regular basis and in the ordinary course of business, rents or leases an aircraft to another person.

(2) Required disclosures. Except as provided in sub. (2m), before entering into an agreement to rent or lease an aircraft to another person, the rental agent shall deliver to the person who seeks to rent or lease the aircraft a written notice of insurance coverage which contains all of the following information and is in substantially the following form:

NOTICE OF INSURANCE COVERAGE

1. If you rent or lease an aircraft from ... (name of rental agent), you (are) (are not) insured under an insurance policy held by .... (name of rental agent) for liability arising from the use or maintenance of the aircraft. If liability coverage is provided, it is in the (amount) (amounts) of $...., and is subject to a deductible in the (amount) (amounts) of $....

2. If you rent or lease an aircraft from .... (name of rental agent), you (are) (are not) insured under an insurance policy held by .... (name of rental agent) for damage to the hull of the aircraft. If hull insurance is provided, it is in the (amount) (amounts) of $...., and is subject to a deductible in the (amount) (amounts) of $....

3. If you are insured under an insurance policy held by .... (name of rental agent), you may ask the rental agent for a copy of the certificate of coverage for further information about any limitations of coverage or other terms of coverage.

4. If you are not insured under an insurance policy held by .... (name of rental agent), it is recommended that you obtain insurance for liability and damage to the hull of the aircraft which may arise from your use of the aircraft.

....(Signature of rental agent

or representative of

rental agent)
 
Find out who the underwriter is on the school's policy, and if possible get a non-owned policy from them for the amount of the deductible. Rarely will an insurance company subro against one of their own customers for an amount in excess of the policy limit.
 
Seth.A said:
So it sounds like what I was expecting. They probably don't care if I have insurance because they are covered if I ball up the plane, even if I'm left wide open.

I'll start shopping. If anyone has suggestions on where to purchase such a policy I would be happy to hear it.
Click to expand...

Understanding insurance coverage is a lot like understanding aviation. You can fully protect yourself by relying on a certified insurance agent to give you specific advice about this. The cost to you is negligible, because they are paid through commissions from the insurer, but at the same time they have a legal obligation to provide you with competent and good advice about this complicated subject.

As others have said, you have no idea what coverage actually does protect you from the school. At a minimum you would need to request to look at the school's coverage documents. If they provide them to you, you still can't be sure if all coverages are fully updated and applicable to you as of your dates of operation, without additional work. It's complicated. Just rely on your friendly local agent.
 
We never had a flight school claim even ask if the renter had their own coverage, even in some really egregious "stupid pilot trick" claims, which our insurer was happy to pay out handsomely for and just burn us on renewal.

The insurance market is tightening abruptly. If you're a deep pocket, you'd probably want to close this gap in coverage or get a subrogation waiver in your interest. Renter's insurance is cheap as chips. Likely because it seldom needs to pay.
 
From a claims adjuster perspective, your own insurance is never a bad thing. The potential losses are much larger than common insurance like auto or homeowners. But aviation insurance is also much broader, and there is no mandate, in my experience, to deny claims which is contrary to the wider insurance industry stereotype. I've had many flight school losses, total hull losses and property damage. The school's insurance has always covered the loss, and I've never subrogated against a student because well, that's the purpose of the flight school's policy. (Subro in layman's terms is- I pay a loss on behalf of my insured, and now I want my money back, so I go after the party that caused the loss).

Now, if you are renting a plane and seriously injure or kill someone, you'll probably be named personally in a lawsuit, so renters coverage would beneficial, if only peace of mind. The flight school's liability limit should cover it however. A good point to remember is that the policy most likely covers legal defense fees outside of the policy limit, which can easily run into 6 figures, so just that in itself is worth the premium.

So, I'd just get it and be happy. Not all flight schools are stand up outfits, so the extra layer of protection is a good thing.

Basically what schmookeeg said.
 
Prior to soloing I got the details from my school. I was possibly going to be on the hook for about a $15k deductible. I ended up going with Avemco, and upped it a bit for piece of mind and future renting. I got $20,000 for the aircraft, $50,000/each person, $500,000 property damage. Paid $325 for the year. I have no idea if that’s a good price or not, but being able to do it in the parking lot 5 minutes before an unexpected solo (ya I procrastinated) seemed like cheap piece of mind. I could have saved myself a few bucks and dropped the limits a bit, but we’re talking like $25-30/year.
 
If you are a homeowner with a standard homeowners liability policy, that policy may also protect you if you damage an airplane. For this you should contact your insurance agent to confirm.
 
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